1979 Buick LeSabre Limited from North America - Comments

3rd Jan 2010, 17:16

I have one of these rare 1979 LeSabre Palm Beach Limited Edition vehicles, and it is a two door, as only two doors were available. Dealers were only allowed one or two of these vehicles to sell, and they were only made in 1979, offered in two tone yellow and white color. I am in possession of one of these cars and it has never been redone, all original like new with only 8,000 miles on it.

15th Feb 2011, 18:29

I have a 1979 Buick LeSabre Palm Beach Edition.

Where is there information concerning how many were made or anything else about them? I haven't been able to find anything. I was looking on the trim code tag and it only gives the paint code for the white. It says 11u and 11L meaning white on lower and white on upper, but it doesn't list the yellow midsection code. Does anybody know what this paint code would be?

22nd Feb 2011, 18:52

28th Feb 2011, 05:06

I have a 79 LeSabre Palm Beach and live in Kentucky. I was just curious as to where some of the others are located. If you own one, I would be interested in hearing what state they are in. Since this is such a low production car, I am just curious to see where the majority are located now, and how many that we can find still existing?

Also, I would be interested to know if they are running or parked? I love these cars. However, there is so little info. to be found on them. If you know anything about them, I would be interested to hear it. Look forward to replies.

16th Mar 2011, 18:41

Mine has the original motor that came in it.

I'm not crazy about it, but just hate to change it. It's a 301 Pontiac. Good running motor, just not my motor of choice. The car runs great. Interior is in good shape. I've had a lot of fun buying the old 8 tracks and listening to them.

17th Mar 2011, 16:41

18th Mar 2011, 16:55

To the man with the 301 - those are good motors. Of course they're disparaged by the real power-hungry types, but they're reliable and durable for ordinary motoring. I've known guys to get 300,000 miles out of them, just like a 307. I'd hang on to it.

1st Nov 2012, 00:35

I'm from Canada. I just bought a 79 Palm Beach from the original owner's dad. It only has 16,850kms, so it's hardly used, and has been in heated storage since 1981. All original matching numbers, receipts for everything.

1st Nov 2012, 10:38

Yeah regarding the 301s - a friend of mine had a '77 Pontiac Grand Prix with one. It was a little underpowered for that heavy car, but not too bad, and he got 300,000 miles out of it with no major repairs to either engine or transmission; even better than I did with my 307s (I was always a Delta 88/98 man).

30th Aug 2013, 03:15

30th Aug 2013, 10:54

I think the value is anyone's guess, and really depends on if you're lucky enough to find the right buyer. It also depends on the options the car has and a lot of details about the condition - if is just low-mileage or is also in truly 'like new' condition, for example if it were always garaged. Anyway I'd say between 2,500 and 5,000 dollars is a good range. They are getting rare.

7th Sep 2013, 16:04

8th Sep 2013, 10:52

We lost a lot of great cars in WWII for the scrap metal; a worthy cause, but tough to think about as a car collector. Cash for Clunkers likely lost a lot of cars that would be desirable today as well. One of my relatives owned a salvage yard and I saw many cars pass through. Many parted out, which was fine, but looking back in time, I saw some then to die for today. All part of doing business with time best served elsewhere. It gave a totally different perspective on cars and value, when they came in no different than rows of ones lined up or stacked to be sent to the crusher on a flatbed. I collect cars and try not to think too much about many I saw. You can't save them all.

29th Sep 2013, 11:52

Yeah... a 455 will get it moving, and in the right direction.

I own a '79 Limited LeSabre with the 350 (355) Buick V8. Are you gonna use a Buick 455? I thought about this kind of swap, possibly going with some big valve heads if the price was right. I know the TH 400 will fit, because in '79 you could still get it in that car behind the 403.

Did the factory include the wiring harness from the bulkhead connector to the accelerator pedal, like they did in the pre '78 "A" bodies for the kick-down switch? I guess I could go look, but in all the digging around under the dash I haven't seen it; maybe it's there.

Also, will the mid 70's "A" body trans. X member for the TH 400 work? I guess a guy could gut out a 403/400 equipped Buick/Oldsmobile and source the parts like that, along with drive shaft. I put a 3.23 posi in mine; I guess that 10 bolt can stand up to some power.

After I pulled a 350 out of a '77 Riv. and had a guy put new 9 to 1 pistons in it and a decent cam, it woke that motor right up, like day and night, even with the emissions on it. I'd suppose a 9.5 to 1 comp. .030" 455 with a mild cam, single exhaust, reworked Q-Jet, factory intake manifold, TH 400, and some deeper gears would give that car the performance of an early 70's "A" body.

I also put the 7 blade fan with 4 row radiator in mine.

It had those 15 X 7(JJ code), Buick chrome rallye's on it, looked great, but I pulled them off and put them on my kids '75 Regal 2 door, put the Regal's wheels on my '79 with '78 wheel covers. Good thing there are tons of parts for these cars, and as long as it didn't come with the 403/HD brake option, the 15" wheels mix and match.

Have fun with that car. We might "455" the Regal, first though we're gonna' pull the 2 bbl. Buick 350 out and put my 9 to 1 comp. LeSabre motor in it, and put a little more cam in it than the Riv. motor :)

10th Feb 2014, 16:21

Where are you located? I am a second owner of one with 51k km on it. I know they built 4001 of these from Jan 79 until the end of March 79, all in the Flint plant. I'm trying to find how many may have come to Canada? Would appreciate any help you can offer.

16th Aug 2016, 17:10

17th Aug 2016, 21:08

I can pick up a 70 GS for only 12k that was for sale at last weekend's cruise night. All original numbers match. My bet goes on this as the best collectible in the 70s other than a same period GSX. A 79 Le Sabre may be interesting to see, but my bets go for 70-72 as the ones to buy as collectible for this decade. And strictly GS 455 models, especially Stage 1. This is a very desirable muscle car, but still trailing in desirability behind the same year's Chevelle SS 4-4-2 and GTO; same platforms and as big block models.